


In Your Arms

by Rozebud



Series: It Happened Like This [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, FFVII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Intimacy, Love, Nudity, Romance, Sexual Themes, romantica - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-07
Updated: 2013-01-07
Packaged: 2017-11-24 01:21:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/628700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rozebud/pseuds/Rozebud
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their first morning together, the beginning of something special, and some questions answered...<br/>[Part 3. A companion piece to 'Beyond Words' & 'The Only One']</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Your Arms

Enfolded in the secure cocoon of his arms, she slept, her back snuggled into his chest with their legs sharing each other's heat under the sheets. Her tangled locks were loose upon his neck, and tickling his chin and nose. He buried his face in her hair, kissing the strands and breathing in a faint fruity smell. _So close._ He opened his eyes to the tranquil grey shades of pre-dawn and a chilly air that made holding Tifa that much better. He had a habit of waking before the sun. Today was no exception, and last night he hardly slept at all. Each time he drifted to sleep, his body pounded to wakefulness, every fiber of his being aware of her beside him, every movement she made, every touch of skin on skin caused him to want her all over again. Even the new contentment in his heart could not lull him to sleep. And than there were the unending questions... What would he say to her? What would she say? What would life be like for them after this? 

She stirred against his chest. He curled his legs up closer under her thighs, warming her skin. Her plump breast rolled against his arm lying beneath her, and his other hand drew light circles over her stomach under the covers. He rested his hand on her waist, and spanned the silken skin of her hips with the barest touch, and he followed the seductive curve of her thighs. Then back again to the tight plane of her stomach, his finger ghosted a line up her skin, and he brushed her breast with his palm. Kissing her neck, he gently cupped her breast, feeling the weight of tender flesh. He lingered on the scar under her breast bone. A scar similar to his own. He closed his eyes, envisioning its depth. He had seen it the night before. It was her mark and he was more than grateful she was alive to show it.

Part of him felt selfish, wanting her to wake, yet he also knew she would be tired and needing to remain in her peaceful slumber just a little longer. He gazed at her serene face, childlike without the concerns of the day, and her pure skin like ivory. And he wondered, how would her eyes look at him now? How would he look at her? He scattered kisses along the sensitive skin of her neck, and she eased back into his chest, even closer. His shaft, already thickening, pressed under her bottom, sensing her opening. He was already throbbing with desire at the slightest movement, no, the slightest thought of her. Maybe it was wrong to touch her like this when she was asleep. Wrong to kiss her when she couldn't respond. Now that the invisible wall between them was torn down, he couldn't stop wanting her, couldn't stop touching her. How little did he know how uncontrolled he could become at the merest contact of her skin. It felt dangerous. Like a burning desire he was unaccustomed to, he needed to caress her sensuous womanly contours and arouse her body to another peak. But was that right?  Is that what she wanted?

With feather strokes, he ringed her nipple, desiring to minister love to her languid body. His fingers trailed a lazy pattern down her taut front, feeling her skin tingle and come alive at his titillating touch. His fingertips brushed over her mound, peeking out from the covering of her thighs. Her sleepy body awoke to his touch, and she stretched her legs down and shifted around under his arm. She crooked her head and under drowsy lids, she watched him with contented bliss. Her voice was a dainty breath, "'morning."

Resting his hand on her stomach, he planted a kiss on her mouth and smiled on her lips. "'morning." His words were a throaty utterance in return. It was their normal greeting, except it was usually spoken across the passage or downstairs, not a breath away.

"What a lovely way to wake up." She gave him a bright yet sleepy smile, before nudging her bottom against his stomach, and pushing his protective arm up, she lifted back the covers.

"Tifa?"

Leaning close to his face, a grin spread the corners of her lips and she kissed him straight on the mouth. "I'm going to the bathroom." She stood from the edge of the bed.

 Cloud watched her cross the room at her leisure, her wavy midnight tresses contrasted with her pale skin, luminous in the pre-dawn light. Perfect rounded curves were carried by slender shapely legs that he loved so much. He wasn't watching, so much as indulging in her captivating beauty, imprinting it in his mind so he could replay it later. This vision of her naked loveliness would be his alone.

He dozed with the sleepy awareness he was in an empty bed that was growing colder by the minute. She was taking a long time. He was sure he heard the distant flush… What if she were showering? Maybe she was making breakfast? Coffee? Surely she wouldn't be getting dressed, would she? He was about to get up and find out when she finally pushed the door open.

With her hands clenched together concealing her breasts, she darted towards the bed, biting her lip, attempting to restrain a wide grin. He held the covers open for her and she crawled into his waiting embrace. He drew her shivering body close to his warmth and a bubble of excited laughter vibrated on his throat. He tilted his head to see her beaming at him and he couldn't help but smile back.

 Her voice was a soft sigh on his chin. "Cloud."

"Yes, Tifa."

"We left the lights on downstairs." There was that melodic giggling again, the most heart-warming sound he knew; Tifa laughing. "All night."

 The thought of Tifa walking around the bar naked was a heady turn-on. _Maybe later..._   "Is that why you're laughing?"

"Mmm, no." A breath away from his face, she gazed at him with joy radiating in her searching eyes. "I'm happy." She lowered her face from him with a sudden coyness. 

He lifted her chin with his fingers, guiding her face back to his and looked into her heat-filled eyes. "I'm happy too." His heart racing, he kissed her tenderly but steady with reassurance, as if putting a seal on everything that took place the night before. It was real, more real than the heart scars of the past. The only solid thing in his life was Tifa and his love for her.

"Cloud." She relaxed her head on the pillow, and her voice was barely a whisper. "Am I your... first?"

Splaying his hands through his unruly blond spikes, he propped himself up on his elbow and gazed down at her observing him with innocent curiosity. "Yes." He had waited a long time for Tifa and she was worth every moment.

Her eyes expanded in surprise. "Ooh" and she creased her brow in thought. "But... how...?"

He smiled smugly at her expression of wonder. At least he must have been doing something right, that was encouraging. He teased, "But... how...what?"

Narrowing her eyes, she frowned and a pout was ready to form. 

He couldn't bear to see it, not on that day, their first morning together. "It's true. You're my first and my only."

Her soft burgundy eyes glowed, and her fingers rubbed across his cheek, caressing the delicate skin under his eye. "It's just you seemed... to know..."

 "Mmmm...I'll tell you why if you want to know." 

Her voice was rich and low, and her eyes sparkled. "I'd love to know."

After only one night he was already prepared to tell Tifa his secrets. What would he be saying after a week? He smiled and took her hand from his cheek and kissed her fingers as he spoke. "When I was in the Infantry there was an unofficial induction that guys _'do it'_ at the nearest... well, the Honey Bee." Memories of his days at Shinra were buried so deep he never thought they would see the light of day.  And now...today of all days.

"But you didn't?" she whispered breathlessly.

His eyes shimmered with an ardent fire and he hid his smile behind her knuckles. "No, I didn't." His voice was strong, making sure she understood. "But…" He inhaled a deep breath, recalling the stress of the peer pressure. He would never put up with such threats now. "I did go."

 Flicking her eyes to his with alert fascination, she held her breath, hanging upon every conflicting word.

"With a few of the other troopers in tow to make sure." His voice rattled with the unpleasant memory. "And while there I went with a girl…" He spoke slow, sensing the blood rushing to his neck, suddenly not feeling like sharing the story anymore. He had forgotten how much it had involved Tifa at the time, like everything he did back than, like everything he always did. "It was all foolish teenage stuff..." Catching her eyes, seeking him out with trusting belief, he expelled a weary breath on her hand. "I told her I wasn't going to do it, and she was happy with that." Looking back as an adult, he had more appreciation of the whole experience and a clearer understanding of the women who worked there. She was getting paid for a night off. Of course she was happy.

Tifa let her breath out in a quiet sigh, her whole body relaxing against him again.

"And so, we talked..."

 "Talked...about?"

He blushed at the memory, because the discussion had been about Tifa, not directly, nor was her name even mentioned, but all Cloud's thoughts and actions were always motivated by Tifa in some form, whether to the faintest inclination or a consuming desire to fulfill his promise. "About... what I should do for a woman. A woman that I loved."

She studied him with an attentive smile, and finally gave a responding chuckle. "That's pretty clever."

"I didn't feel clever at the time." At the time, he had been embarrassed to talk about it with the girl, who was a lot older than him, probably around Tifa's age now. She hadn't been nervous at all, but considering what she did for a living that wasn't a surprise. She treated him seriously when she realized how determined he was to know, everything he could possibly know. And she told him everything she knew, probably more than he ever needed to know or wanted to in some instances, but he took it all in, greedy for information, anything that might help when the time came. Athough when it came down to it, it was his own passionate instincts leading the way. He just had some guidelines to follow. 

He entwined his fingers with Tifa's and his mouth made a grim line. "And after that they stopped hounding me. I never told anyone the truth..." The memories still evoked him to anger. Instead of standing his ground on what _he_ wanted, he was coerced into going to the Honey Bee to sleep with a stranger. But even then, there was no way he would ever be with anyone he wasn't in love with. Afterwards, he became fearful with the unreasonable belief that somehow, word of it would get back home to Tifa. He had to tell someone the truth, to appeal his peace of mind and speak on his behalf if it ever came down to that. "...except one person," he muttered the words with uncertainty, realizing he was digging out memories he didn't know if he was prepared for, "he laughed about it for days." And it hadn't been long before he was probing Cloud for information on his newfound knowledge, which amazed Cloud no end.

"Zack?"

"Yeah." Her assumption didn't surprise him. She knew he was the only one Cloud would have ever trusted enough to share that sort of secret. The recent vision of Zack was a lingering memory, and he didn't have the heart to speak more on him right than, or anything to do with all that past life. He only wanted to talk about Tifa. His words, catching in his throat, came out as a broken murmur, "And you...am I your first?" Avoiding her eyes, his fingers brushed loose strands away from her cheek. He hadn't realized how important it was to him and now he feared the answer, yet if he didn't know it would eat at him for all time.

She held his face with her palm, her eyes seeking out the most sensitive nerve of his soul, as if she knew exactly where it was, and whispered, "First and only."

A pleased look broke out on his face, she really was his alone than. He mouthed a trail across her cheek, his lips touching on hers, he murmured, "It's been too long..." 

"I've been waiting... since that night." 

He gazed down into her sincere face, and his lips spread in a broad grin over hers at the thought of that night they spent together. He was so much younger than, and he didn't realize at the time, how immature he was, and how little confidence he had to express his feelings. Although in that regard, he hadn't changed a great deal, he just knew how to manage his flaws better.

Rubbing her hands along his tensing biceps, she continued in a demure whisper, "...and preparing too..."

Mid-kiss on her softened lips, he paused, frowning, attempting to discern her meaning. He sensed her skin heat from her chest to her neck and it hit home. Grinning like a devil, he imagined Tifa 'preparing' herself. "From now on, I'll take care of your needs."

She crept her hand up to his neck, and combed her fingers through his ruffled hair. "My needs could be large to fill."

"I'll have to try as hard as I can." He kissed under her chin, his tongue moistening her skin.

"Cloud?"

"Hmmm...?"

"Do you think last night was always going to happen?"

Seriousness underlined her query, and he paid attention, looking to her eyes that searched for some reassurance, and he noticed her smile had receded. It was true, she had played a part in them getting together, but she didn't instigate it, she just offered a helping hand to hurry things up. Otherwise it might have taken days -- Gaia forbid, even two weeks. "Yes. One way or another."

Her contented smile returned.

"But, Tifa, don't ever dress like that when I'm not here." His voice was resolute, maybe even too demanding, but he meant every single word.

"I got it." Her eyes gleamed with challenging mirth. "Only when you're here."

Continuing with his biting kisses, his throat rumbled with approval at her flirtatious suggestion. Her arms curled around his neck and head, drawing him closer as he shifted over her. His mouth found hers, and she was waiting to claim him as much as he craved her. Flowing out from his core, was a rush of hot desire, consuming his body. He surrendered himself to the pleasurable sensation of her hungry mouth, with every part of him yearning to know her more in every way possible.


End file.
